Improvement in cider-mills



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

S. A. HEBARD, OF NORTH STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN ClDER-MILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,73 l, dated September 1, 1863.

ments in Machines forMakin g Cider; and I do.

hereby declare that thefollowin gis af ull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a side elevation. Fig. 2 is an elevation of left-hand end, and Fig. 3 is a top view.

My invention relates to a machine for ciderinaking, wherein, by a system of mechanism consisting of grinding and pressing` cylinders, endless apron, &c., the fruit is reduced to pulp, pressed, and strained at a continuous operation.

The rst part of my invention consists in the construction of the grinding or reducing cylinder, and in the combination therewith of an adjustable blade or bar, substantially as hereinafter speciiied.

The second part of my invention consists in the mode of clearing the apron of pcmace or Waste pulp-viz., by carrying the apron around a roller of small diameter, causing the bulk of pulp to break and fall off, in combination with the use of a brush or beating cylinder to act on the apron while presented and supported by said roller.

This machine is not confined in its use or purpose to cider-makin g, but is adapted to grinding or crushing various sorts of fruit, Snc., and expressing the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same. and its operation.

In the annexed drawings the marks of reference correspond in all the figures.

I provide a suitable frame, A, having such form, essentially as shown, as to afford places for the journals of the several shafts, and in general to sustain the various parts of the machine.

B is the grinding or reducing cylinder. The upper half thereof is inclosed in ahopper, C, of which a skeleton view is given in Fig. l.

The periphery of said cylinder has longitudinal rows of teeth a, alternated with cutting edges b, and said teeth and cutting-edges act against a bar or blade, e. Said blade is secured by screws which pass through slots in the blade, and said blade is thus adjustable with respect to the cylinder B. I prefer to form this cylinder of sections, makin g each row of teeth and cutting-edge respectively of separate sections or staves, and securing them between a pair of disks, c, fixed to their shaft.

D E are two revolving cylinders for pressing the pomace. They are geared so as to revolve together in the usual manner, and one y is set in movable bearings, so that it maybe y lnoved up to and away from its fellow by screwsp or other competent means. Said cylinders are also connected by a train of gearing With the reducing-cylinder B. The object of such gearing is not simply to communicate motion, but also to greatly diminish speed, in orderthat the pressing-cylinders run very slow, as compared with the reducing-cylinder, the result being that a considerable body of the pomace will be fed to the pressingcy'linders continuously, and form a species of cushion of the pomace itself, which will prevent the seeds and stems from being crushed by allowing them to be embedded in the pulp. The amount of pomacerequired to produce this effect is that which will make about half an inch or more in thickness of pressed pomace, and the proportion of speed of the reducing to that of the pressing cylinders may be as great as twelve hundred revolutions of the former to six of the latter. This provisionof a cushion is very important, as Without it the seeds would be crushed and the tlayor of the expressed juice deteriorated.

To conveythe pulp to the pressing-cylinders and discharge the same from the machine, I make use of an endless apron or belt, F. Said beltpasses under the reducing-cylinder from a roller, d, (dotted,)over a roller, j', under the pressing-cylinder D, up betweenD and E, over the latter and down around avery small roller, g, and thence back to d. And this belt or apron also serves the purpose of straining the juice from the pulp during the operation of pressing. I therefore make it of a iibrous material, suited to ,holding the mass orcushion of pulp, and have found that a fabric Woven of hard twine is well adapted to the purpose, as it combines with the extreme strength required a texture sufficiently porous or open properly to accomplish the separation of the juice from the pulp. For wine, a finer fabric, more closely woven, is desirable.

G is a trough or conduit to receive and carry oft thejuice as it comes from between thepressing-cylinders.

H is a small revolving cylinder with brushes or beaters, which act on the apron or pomace thereon, or both, and assist in clearing the belt or apron of the expressed pomace. The belt is strained and held taut by nuts h h on screws i i, at theinner ends of which are loops j, encircling the journals of the'roller d.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Motion is communicated through the pulley I on the shaft of the cylinder B. The fruit is placed in the hopper, and the rotation of the cylinderB, acting in conjunction with the blade e, reduces the fruit to pulp, throwing it at the same time onto the endless apron F underneath, whence it is conveyed to and carried in between the pressing-cylinders D E. As the pomace is carried up between the said cylinders, the juice is forced below through the apron running on the trough or conduit Gr. The action ot` the reducing-cylinder on the fruit is to score and cut alternately, which inode ot' reducing the fruit eiiects a great saving, does the work neater and better, and by doing more work with tl; e same power increases the capacity of the machine over those wherein the fruit is crushed and torn by iixed and rotatin g teeth.

When the poniace is expressedv of the juice, it is left on the apron in the form i ofahard, dry cake. The apron, with this caked pomace, now passes to the small roller g, and as the apron begins to assume acurved form, as it follows around the periphery of that roller, the caked pomace breaks and falls off. The bruslreylinder H` revolves in the opposite direction from that of the apron, and, being located underneath and immediately beyond where the poniace breaks, conj ointl y assists in clearing said apron ot' the pomace, and said brush cylinder, when located contiguous to the roller g, as above stated, so as to act on the apron while presented and supported on such roller, is inuch more effectual in operation than when located at a point where' the apron is not so supported. j

I caiin as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination of the grinding or reducing cylinder with the adjustable blade or bar, when constructed to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the roller g with the brush-cylinder, when the said roller and brushcylinder are arranged relatively to each other and operate substantially as described.

S. A. HEBARD.

Witnesses l THEoDoRE Cox, HARRY SMITH. 

